Full Citation
Title: The Evolving Role of ICT in the Economy
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2018
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Abstract: The Evolving Role of ICT Since the ICT-related surge in the 1990s and early 2000s there has been a major, persistent slowdown in productivity growth across a range of economies. The most likely explanation for this is that the slowdown is part of a cyclical process underpinned by technology, in particular ‘waves’ that relate to the development of General Purpose Technologies (GPTs). The other major explanation of the slowdown relates to mismeasurement, specifically the idea that a large fraction of the consumer surplus generated by internet-related goods and services is not being captured effectively in the national accounts. However, rigorous estimates of internet-related consumer surplus struggle to account for the gap implied by the productivity slowdown. In this report we put forward some original research on: (1) the role of ICT-related research in generating ideas via knowledge spillovers, (2) a study of the history and economic consequences of UK broadband since 2000, and (3) an analysis of recent US employment data in relation to automation. As we outline below, the two main policy implications of our research are that (1) the high knowledge spillovers that occur with respect to ICT-related innovations suggests that there is a window for the government to produce social returns through support for R&D in this area, and (2) the automation challenge will need to be met by a comprehensive skills policy and that the tax treatment of skills investment (for example, via a Skills . . .
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Authors: Draca, Mirko; Martin, Ralf; Sanchis-Guarner, Rosa
Publisher: The London School of Economics and Political Science
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Methodology and Data Collection, Other
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